Measures necessary for protection of humans working
with lorises and pottos (keepers, field researchers, veterinarians)

Lorises
have got strong jaw muscles and pointed teeth with cutting edges easily
piercing human skin or thin gloves. Handling with its stress for the animal
and danger for humans can often be avoided by catching animals with a cage
in connection with some live insects as a reward. Health problems after
slow loris bites may be either due to presence of a toxin produced by the
animals, due to bacteria and viruses transferred by bites (N. Rowe, pers.
comm.) or due to an anaphylactic shock (extreme
allergic reaction) 78.
Severe health problems and occasional deaths of humans from slow loris
venom have been reported 78.

Loris
brachial gland secretion includes two toxins, made inactive by inhibitors;
if mixed with saliva, for instance after licking of the brachial
glands, the enzymes from the saliva break down the inhibitors and make
the saliva-secretion mixture toxic (76,
77,
N. Rowe, pers. comm.).

Dentition of a slender loris. Lorises have powerful jaw muscles and
teeth with sharp edges, and since they are shy, excitable animals, unforeseen
bites are always possible. Lorises should not be kept as domestic pets,
particularly in families with children! In zoos, handling should be done
by skilled animal keepers wearing gloves or, less stressful, by training
and use of cage traps instead of seizing the animals - after taming, lorises
soon learn to enter such a cage for a reward.

Loris bites are painful and often heal slowly because of bacterial
flora on the teeth; severe disease and death of humans due to the effect
of a poison produced in loris or potto skin glands have been reported.
Photos: courtesy of Helena Fitch-Snyder.

Anaphylactic
shock: in people regularly in contact with slow lorises, saliva may repeatedly
come into the body through tiny, maybe invisible wounds. If the loris keeper
develops an allergy against this saliva, an allergic shock is possible
(independant from the quantity of substance causing it, within seconds
to minutes, in one case described lasting two hours), although this is
a rare disease. Symptoms of anaphylactic shock may be: initially burning
tongue and throat, a sensation of heat, red, itching skin, wheals, very
low blood pressure, shock, convulsions of muscles (pain), pain in the heart
and kidney region, respiratory problems (constriction of airways), heart
problems, and possibly unconsciousness. Occurrence would make an immediate
call for medicinal help necessary; first aid: measures against shock such
as lying posture with legs a bit higher, assuring sufficient blood supply
for necessary organs. Cases described: 78,
85,
additional information about anaphylactic shock: 5,
110.

For
protection of veterinarians, coworkers of zoos and rescue stations the
following possiblities should be considered:

Use of protective gloves when handling
lorises. Stiff, thick leather gloves do not allow cautious handling; instead
in some facilities stainless steel metal mesh gloves are used, which are
available as protective equipment for butchers or veterinarians (Prof.
Rumpler, Strasboug University, pers. comm.), see for instance PerfectFit
metal mesh glove page. Such gloves are more flexible than stiff thick
leather gloves and protect against cut, slash and laceration hazards; additional
safety may be provided by protection of the arm with metal mesh sleeves.
Helena Fitch-Snyder recommends custom-made elbow length elk leather gloves
(double thickness around the fingers) as thick enough to protect against
bites even by large N. bengalensis, but more lightweight than metal
gloves and still flexible enough.

People threatened by anaphylactic shock,
for instance suffering from a bee sting allergy, may keep an emergency
kit within reach with contains adrenalin, cortisone and antihistamine.
Cortison and antihistamine are also said to help reduce symptoms for instance
after certain snake bites
111. Acquisition
and use of such an emergency kit or other prophylactic measures should
be based on consultation of a health professional.

Besides reducing the risk of dangerous
allergic reactions, proper first aid after a bite should consider possible
infections due to bacteria and viruses in the saliva, which are common
(Helena Fitch-Snyder, pers. comm.)

Freshly
imported or confiscated animals may have been in contact with some
infectious agent. Vaccination against tetanus after a bite is certainly
useful. One of the most terrible diseases which may be transferred by bites
is rabies. No reports about lorises or pottos infected with rabies have
been found so far, but according to the rabies website of the Louis Pasteur
Institute (of 2000), rabies occurs both in Africa and Asia. China, Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Thailand are mentioned as countries with decreased infection
rate because of national plans for rabies prevention, but in other Asian
countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Laos
precarious situations are said to persist. Dogs are the most important
vectors for this disease
106, so there
might be a risk that animals offered on local markets might have come into
contact with an infected dog. For immediate measures after a bite see website
about risks from animal bites during fieldwork by Dr. Jane Wilson Howarth
105,
http://www.psgb.org/PrimateEye/AnimalBiteRisks.html;
more information might be found in her book:Wilson Howarth, J. 1999:
Bugs, Bites and Bowels: the Cadogan guide to Healthy Travel. ISBN: 186011914X.